Bible Commentaries
Psalms 84

Verses 1-12

Psalms 84:0

Psalms 84:1 (To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.) How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!

Psalms 42:1 “A Psalm for the sons of Korah” Comments - Origen tells us the psalms that include the title “sons of Korah” in its opening verse (42 through 49, 84, 85, 87, 88) were written by the sons of Korah, who worked together in the unity of the Spirit to produce it. He justifies this statement by quoting Psalms 44:1, which says, “O God, we have heard with our ears.”

“But if it be necessary also from the ancient Scriptures to bring forward the three who made a symphony on earth, so that the Word was in the midst of them making them one, attend to the superscription of the Psalms, as for example to that of the forty-first, which is as follows: ‘Unto the end, unto understanding, for the sons of Korah.’ For though there were three sons of Korah whose names we find in the Book of Exodus, Aser, which is, by interpretation, ‘instruction,’ and the second Elkana, which is translated, ‘possession of God,’ and the third Abiasaph, which in the Greek tongue might be rendered, ‘congregation of the father,’ yet the prophecies were not divided but were both spoken and written by one spirit, and one voice, and one soul, which wrought with true harmony, and the three speak as one, ‘As the heart panteth after the springs of the water, so panteth my soul alter thee, O God.’ But also they say in the plural in the forty-fourth Psalm, ‘O God, we have heard with our ears.’” ( Origen’s Commentary on Matthew 14:1) [90]

[90] Origen, Origen’s Commentary on Matthew, trans. Allan Menzies, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 9, ed. Allan Menzies (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, c1896, 1906), 495.

Psalms 84:7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

Psalms 84:7 “They go from strength to strength” Comments - When we abide in the presence of God and receive His strength, we go forth to serve Him and become strengthened even more. Note how Frances J. Roberts defines this phrase:

“As Martha in her desire to minister to Me forfeited My nearness, so thou hast done. My child, I have need of nothing. I desire only thy love. Give Me this first always, and whatsoever service may follow, thou wilt then do with light feet and a heart set free. Abandon to Me thy whole being, and I will then work in and through thee in such a way that even as I am using thee, thou shalt simultaneously experience My energizing power; so that in the very process of giving, thou shalt in very truth receive even beyond what ye give, and shall in each instance emerge richer and stronger. There is no loss when ye serve Me thus. For when thy life is wholly lost in My life, there is never anything but gain. As the prophet of old exclaimed, ‘ They go from strength to strength ’. Only sin worketh death and loss. Righteousness worketh life and health.” [91]

[91] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 79.

Psalms 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Psalms 84:10 “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand” - Comments - One day in 1984 I went to visit my Grandmother Everett. I found two other Assembly of God ladies visiting her from her church. They were having a prayer meeting. When I arrived and was introduced, they asked me to gather around my Grandfather's bed, for he had been in this bed a number of years. As I opened my mouth to pray, the Holy Spirit fell over us. Oh, for a day in the presence of God with wonderful His Glory. I have lived a thousand days since that day which did not compare.

Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Psalms 84:12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.